An elevator is configured so that when a car finishes responding to all calls and the state in which a new call is not registered continues for a predetermined period of time or longer, to reduce power consumption, the lighting in the car is turned off automatically, and the car is paused. In the case where a fluorescent lamp is used as a car lighting fixture, if the turning-on and turning-off are repeated frequently, the deterioration of fluorescent lamp proceeds rapidly, and the service life thereof shortens extremely. Therefore, the elevator has conventionally been configured so that not immediately after the car has finished responding to all calls, but when the state in which a new call is not registered continues for a predetermined period of time after the car has finished responding to all calls, the lighting is turned off, and the car is paused.
In recent years, because of increasing concern about energy saving, an inverter fluorescent lamp and an LED lamp that achieve a higher energy saving effect have been increasingly used as a lighting fixture for an elevator. In particular, the LED lamp has a very high energy saving effect, and, although the initial cost thereof is a little higher than that of the fluorescent lamp, the LED lamp is sometimes more inexpensive than the fluorescent lamp in comparison as to the lifecycle cost including power consumption and the like.
In view of the above-described situation, concerning the lighting fixture provided in the elevator car and a control device which controls the lighting fixture, some techniques have been proposed so far.
For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a technique such that in an elevator in which if the state of no call continues for a predetermined period of time or longer, the car is paused automatically, if the number of pauses within a certain period exceeds a predetermined value, the subsequent automatic pause is inhibited, and the lighting in the car stays on.
As another conventional technique, there has also been proposed a technique in which by adopting the LED lamp as the lighting fixture in the car, the thickness of a ceiling portion of the car is decreased (for example, refer to Patent Literatures 1 and 2).